Mark Chesnutt, ‘Gonna Get a Life’ – Lyrics Uncovered

Mark Chesnutt's mid-'90s hit 'Gonna Get a Life' shot straight to the top of the country singles chart and became one of the signature songs of his music career. The tune was penned by legendary singer-songwriter Jim Lauderdale and Frank Dycus, who were the same writing team responsible for Gary Allan's 'Forever and a Day.'

"Usually Frank will give my the lyrics first, and I’d look at the paper and a melody would come out," Lauderdale tells Taste of Country. "I usually get the melody idea then, but with this one, I had the melody first."

The melody helped the writer come up with a crafty lyric for the song's opening lyrics:

"Gotta find somethin' to ease my mind / Gotta get it off of you / You tear at my heart strings one more time / With what you're puttin' me through / I'm not much on hangin' around / Where I'm not wanted at all / I'm not gonna be your love sick clown / Waitin' for your beck and call."

"I was at Frank’s house writing that day," recalls Lauderdale. "We were in the kitchen taking a break, and I played him the song. I said, ‘What should we call this, Frank?’ He said, ‘How about ‘Gonna Get a Life’?’ And then he preceded to write out the rest of the lyrics on the song."

"I'm gonna get a life / That's what I'm gonna do / So startin' now / You can find one too / I'm gonna get a life / Like I should have done / A long time ago / Before you wrecked this one," they wrote in the song's chorus.

'Gonna Get a Life' topped the charts and became Chesnutt's sixth No. 1 single in May of 1995.